Quick measures of biodiversity fail the test
From the Summer 2007 edition of Bush Telegraph Magazine.
Mammals, such as this glider, need to be accurately measured in forest remnants and plantations to ensure they are protected. Photo Forests NSW Image Library.
Efforts to restore wildlife habitat outside of national parks needs to be supported by more accurate ways of measuring biodiversity, according to a major study by NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI) researchers.
The study, funded by the NSW Environmental Trust, sought to ‘ground-truth’ four biodiversity toolkits being developed for use in assessing the conservation value of vegetation in rural and agricultural landscapes.
The NSW DPI researchers sought to investigate the accuracy of the kits in predicting vertebrate species richness within forest remnants and eucalypt plantations established as habitat for wildlife on agricultural land.
After comparing the scoring system used in the toolkits with data from 120 sites in NSW and northern Victoria, the research team concluded that the toolkits were poor predictors of biodiversity in agricultural and other altered landscapes.
Forest biodiversity research leader, Dr Rod Kavanagh, said the toolkits could be expected to do a better job in predicting the occurrences of the more familiar spe-cies, including birds, mammals, reptiles and frogs, than was the case.
“Accordingly, toolkits may not provide a reliable method of identifying high quality sites for biodiversity and thus poorer quality sites could end up being chosen for protection over higher quality ones,” Rod said.
In the past decade, interest in ‘off-park conservation’ to support biodiversity outside of national parks has resulted in schemes to encourage landholders to re-store habitat in rural and agricultural landscapes.
Rod said that existing toolkits require further development and refinement before they should be used in management decisions.
Joanne Finlay Public Affairs & Media, Orange
